Naturschutzgebiet Waldhägenich

The Waldhägenich is a 547-hectare lowland landscape between the A5 motorway in the west and the town of Bühl and the municipality of Ottersweier in the east. The remaining remnants of a once diverse, species-rich cultural landscape with wet smooth oat and litter meadows, reed beds, alluvial forests, streams and orchards are now among the last refuges for rare animal and plant species in the densely populated Rhine plain.

The Waldhägenich was placed under protection in 1989 in order to preserve the valuable habitats for the endangered fauna. In addition to regulations for farmers, the protected area ordinance also includes rules for visitor traffic. A visitor guidance system was set up, a shallow water zone with a wooded belt was created on the lake as a breeding biotope and the bank close to the path was planted with a dense wooded belt as a breeding bird biotope.

At almost the same time, the Waldhägenich Nature Conservation Foundation was established, which compensates farmers for restrictions imposed by the ordinance and finances measures to maintain and develop the area. Representatives from agriculture, nature conservation, politics and administration sit on the board.

The protected area has been managed full-time since 1992. One of the tasks of the protected area manager is to ensure that the ordinance is adhered to and to sensitise the public to the animals and plants worthy of protection through guided tours. He is the local contact for farmers and all other users.

He also carries out maintenance and development measures himself. For example, he maintains the visitor guidance system, looks after the shallow water zone, encourages the planting of new fruit trees for the little owl and maps the occurrence of the marsh fritillary. The rewetting of the Singhurstgraben benefits a variety of animal species.

Thanks to full-time management, the area has been largely calmed down. There is no disturbance from swimming or car traffic. Instead, there are more and more requests for guided tours of the nature reserve. The wooded strip by the lake has developed into a biotope for songbirds such as nightingales and red-backed shrikes, and the renaturalised stretches of water are home to numerous dragonfly species, including the banded damselfly and the horseshoe damselfly.